In Adam McKay’s new film, Don’t Look Up, two scientists try to get the government and the general public to care about the end of the world (sound familiar?). McKay called up all of his friends in Hollywood for the apocalyptic comedy based on real events that haven’t happened (yet).
In Don’t Look Up, Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. However, the comet is on a direct collision course with Earth and no one—not even the president—really seems to care. Faced with an inconvenient and difficult fact to navigate, they do what the people of this country are so good at: Ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry).
After their media blitz, Kate and Randall become a viral laughing stock for those who remain unworried. Timothée Chalamet appears as a gas station-lurking teenager who takes a selfie with the pair, and pop sensation Ariana Grande seems more interested in her tattoo of a shooting star than a deadly piece of space matter.
Written, directed, and produced by the prolific McKay, Don’t Look Up also includes performances from Mark Rylance, Ron Perlman, Scott Mescudi (a.k.a. Kid Cudi), Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Chiklis, and Tomer Sisley.
The score for Don’t Look Up is written by Nicholas Britell, the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning composer behind the banger that is the entirety of the Succession soundtrack. He’s also created the scores for Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, Cruella, The Big Short, and The Underground Railroad. No big deal.
Don’t Look Up arrives in select theaters December 10, then debuts on Netflix December 24.